342 BC: Aristotle is reluctant to set aside his own ambitions in order to tutor Alexander, the rebellious son of his boyhood friend Philip of Macedon. But the philosopher soon comes to realize that teaching this charming, surprising, sometimes horrifying teenager—heir to the Macedonian throne, forced onto the battlefield before his time—is a necessity amid the ever more sinister intrigues of Philip's court. A startlingly original first novel by "this generation's answer to Alice Munro" (Vancouver Sun), this is a bold reimagining of one of history's most intriguing relationships, told in the keenly intelligent, often darkly funny voice of Aristotle.

"I think this quietly ambitious and beautifully achieved novel is one of the most convincing historical novels I have ever read. [Annabel] Lyon makes her reader avid for every detail of this strange world, whether domestic or medical or military, and she has steeped herself in the thinking of the time. She makes her characters entirely solid and real, while respecting their otherness, the distance between us. That is what characterized Mary Renault's novels, and I think that she would have deeply admired this book.... And I thought that she chose to end the story at precisely the right point. Part of me said 'please let there be more,' but at the same time I recognize the job is done. Throughout, I think her judgment is sound and true, and the reader trusts her voice from the first paragraph."—Hilary Mantel